Blind Faith: Blind Love Book 1
by Sunriserooftops
Summary: Life drastically changes for John Allerdyce and Bobby Drake when Cecilia Wagner and Marie 'Rogue' D'Ancanto arrive at Xavier's school for gifted youngters.
1. Chapter 1

1. When I leave you

She closed the door with a small slam and leaned against it. Her parents voices travelled up the stairs and she shut her eyes hard. The arguing had gone from loud to shouting and all she wanted right now was for it to stop - just STOP!

She slid down the inside of the door and landed softly on the floor, her knees by her jaw and her eyes still closed hard. She was trying to escape, trying to go to that soft place she normally went. Slowly she slipped away from reality and landed as softly as she had on her rug in her pretend world, this was where she had gone to escape her real life for years.

"Cecilia Wagner?" a new, soft and pleasant voice asked her. She looked around her mind for the interruption. And the person who had caused it.

"Yes?" she finally said.

"I'm downstairs on the street. Nowhere near your mind," the voice said.

"Who are you?" she asked hesitantly.

"My name is Charles Xavier, and I run a school for gifted youngsters. Such as yourself," he added.

She could almost feel his smile in her mind, the essence of him was warm and sweet, like honey and sunshine. She hesitated for another moment before she opened her eyes.

"I'll be right down," she said before she shut herself off. She slid up the door and turned to open it. The voices from downstairs had gone silent, to Cecilia's great relief.

She bounced down the stairs and opened the front door.

Out there, on the street, stood a van, a man in a wheelchair, and a woman. She saw the bald man smile at her, and she felt as warm as she had just moments earlier. He was kind, what more did she want from him? Nothing, she answered herself, from someone who was apparently a teacher. She smiled at him as she closed the door behind her, and started down the street.

"Cecilia," he said, a little louder than normal. She suddenly felt the urge to hurry, to get away from the house and get to him as soon as she could. When he reached out to shake her hand she took his hand and was stunned by the connection.

"How did you know?" she asked, still smiling like an idiot.

"It's my job to know. Now, will you listen to my offer?"

Cecilia sat down on the dry asphalt right in front of him. "Yes," she said, looking up at him and then at the woman behind him. Charles looked over his shoulder at the woman, who was smiling. He returned the smile, to both the woman and to Cecilia.

"Good."

**

"'Ey!"

John hit Bobby over the shoulder with the palm of his hand and laughed, jumping over the bench and sitting down next to him.

"Hi to you too," Bobby answered a little gingerly. "What's up?"

"Did you hear the professor left to go get a new girl?" John asked, his voice fast with excitement and his eyebrows wagging.

"Nope, didn't hear that," Bobby answered, still not sure if he was interested. He was still too tired to want to talk, five am and John was as awake as could be. All Bobby wanted to do was cool him and hit hot-head-self down.

"Yeah, he left yesterday morning with Jean-"

"Miss Grey," Bobby corrected him, still a little grumpy.

John looked at him, pointing the bottle he had on his hand at him. "Two shoes," he said plainly, taking a swig from the bottle.

Bobby shook his head, laughing. "That's what you think," he smiled.

"Oh, yeah?" John challenged.

"Yeah."

After a long silence Bobby snatched the bottle from John's hand, cooled it down with a simple breath and took a swig from it.

"So, do you know who this supposed new girl is?" he asked, handing John the bottle.

"Storm said her name was Cecilia Wagner."

Bobby looked at John, finally cracking a smile. "And-"

"-what Storm says, goes!" both boys said loudly, their laugh echoing against the buildings as they laughed to the point of almost falling of the bench.

**

"-and, I would really like to go," Cecilia concluded, looking into her dimwitted mother's eyes. She looked for her mother to her father, who was staring at her like she was an alien with green tentacles. This is the moment, she realized, when they say they have no daughter. This is the moment they tell me that if I leave, I better not bother coming back. This is it...

And for the first time in her long teen-dom, she realized she didn't want them to give up on her. She needed them, even if they sucked as parents and argued all the time, she loved them and needed them. She knew her mother needed her too, in various ways around the house but most of all, she needed her to talk to about her sisters.

But to her surprise, it wasn't her mother that spoke first.

"Celie," her father rumbled. "If this is what you want, then we won't stand in your way."

"If you ever need to come home," her mother said. "Then you are welcome. We don't want to lose the only daughter we have left," she said, her hand reaching out for her husband's. Again, her father surprised Cecilia as he took her mother's hand and held it tight.

"Your mom's right, you still our girl and no matter what, we'll love you. If this school is what you feel like you need to do, do it."

Cecilia got up from her seat, as Charles Xavier nodded. She surprised herself as she went around the table and planted a kiss each on her parents cheeks. "Thank you," she whispered to each of them. She made her way to the stairs, grabbing the banister.

"Cecilia," her father said.

"Yeah?" She turned around to look at her parents, finally united again.

"Thank you for being honest with us," he said; her old man moved almost to tears. For the first time since her parents became cat and dog, she could feel their single personalities as well as who they were as a couple. The smell of whiskey and strawberries, the essence of their relationship. She smiled.

"You're welcome," she said.

Charles Xavier and Jean Grey stayed with her parents, filled them in on the school and all the details, as Cecilia began packing.

**

Meanwhile, somewhere far from Cecilia Wagner and her few problems, Marie D'Ancanto wasn't living her quiet life any more. Her problems had gone from few and unimportant to many and filled with pain.

It had been a day like any other when she'd kissed her boyfriend, feeling overwhelmed with love and want for him. It was then that she felt him go limp under her, blue in the face and lifeless.

Marie had flown out of the bed, screaming her head off.

His parents had burst through the door and looked at him, then at her. Marie had started crying, and as someone tried to touch her she shouted at them not to.

That one little kiss turned Marie D'Ancanto into a run away in a matter of days. She became a homeless teenage girl on the run from herself as well as from her family. The family of her boyfriend, too, as they blamed her for his vegetated state. She didn't know what to do with herself, so she kept moving, kept going, kept hitch-hiking.

And that's how she ended up getting off a truck at that rest-stop, went into that bar, where he boxed.

That's how she ended up on the back of his trailer sneaking a lift, and how she ended up in the front seat of his rolling home.

That's how she ended up getting stuck as they crashed, and how she watched Logan fight with some long haired man.

That's how she got rescued by a man in sunglasses, and that how she finally ended up at the Charles Xavier school for gifted youngsters.

All because of that kiss, weeks earlier, Rogue reached the place that would be her home on the same day that Cecilia Wagner ended up there.

Sometimes life can be funny, don't you think?

**

Bobby hit John over the head as he gawked at the two girls, sitting on opposite sides of the room.

"What?" John turned and hissed at him under his breath.

"Stop staring, it's impolite," Bobby hissed back. "And they're not today's entertainment."

"They sure look like they could be," John said, wagging his eyebrows at Bobby. He hated when he did that, made people into object to be argued and fought over.

"Bobby," Jean said, standing in the doorway. She'd been talking too the new girl, the one without the gloves and the polo shirts, the one with the Wonder woman t-shirt and the kind eyes. bobby got up, looking over his shoulder as John and then over at the other girl. Her dark hair, her scared eyes, her completely covered body. He wondered what made her so scared...

"Yes, miss Grey?"

"This is Cecilia Wagner," Jean said, making a small gesture to the girl next to her. "I'd like you to show her around, if you have the time?"

"Of course, no problem."

"Thank you Bobby. You'll be okay with him," Jean said in a reassuring way to the girl. She smiled and nodded.

"Thanks, miss Grey," she said sweetly. Jean nodded and went over to the other girl, sitting down by her side.

"So," Bobby started. Articulate as always, he thought to himself. "I'm Bobby Drake," he smiled. Only fair she knew his last name since he knew hers, he justified to himself.

"I know," she nodded, smiling at him.

"How?"

She shrugged. "We'll see."

Bobby nodded slowly and then decided which way to go. "This way," he said, pointing his arm out the doorway and into the big hallway.

One thing Bobby was sure of as he showed Cecilia around, and it was that things was about to get real interesting around the house with the two new girls and the guy.

Cecilia looked over her shoulder at him. "I think you might be right," she said and smiled as his jaw dropped.


	2. Chapter 2

2. When you see me

The smell of elderberry flowers filled her nose and she smiled, knowing that Bobby Drake would turn the corner in the next few seconds. And, just like that, he came round the corner into the library. She got up, silently, from the windowsill and walked up so she was almost next to him.

"Hey," she said, startling him as he was walking around in his own world. He let out a quick breath then laughed at himself.

"Hey yourself," he smiled at her. "How are ya?"

She nodded. "Not too bad. And I got some pretty good roomies, to go with."

"Oh yeah, who?"

"Kitty Pryde-"

"Shadowcat, yeah. She can walk through walls," Bobby nodded.

"-and Marie D'Ancanto."

Bobby still nodded and then stopped. "Who?"

"The other new girl. Rogue."

"Oh the girl with the gloves," he said, the pieces falling into place.

"That would be the one. She's pretty cool, once you get over the fact that she doesn't talk about herself, or her power." Cecilia looked up at Bobby, feeling a smile tug at the corners of her mouth. Her mind was filled with the sweetness of him, and the calm, cool feeling of him close to her.

"I was headed over to the cafeteria for lunch," he began, trailing off a little as if he was about to excuse himself.

"Oh, then you should go eat." She looked behind her at the book, and suddenly her life felt very lonely.

He caught her eyes. "Would you join me?"

She tried to suppress a smile as she started to nod. "I'd like that very much," she said. He nodded too and held out his arm in the direction they had gone only hours earlier as he'd shown her around.

**

Marie sat on her bed, staring beyond her bare hands are her bare feet.

"Hey kid," a dark voice rumbled.

"Hey," she said, looking up at Logan's frame with pain clear across her face.

"You okay in here?"

"Yeah." She started pulling her gloves on as she realized he was moving into the room. She bent down and pulled some sock on as well, covering what exposed skin she could.

"Maybe you should talk to someone, see if they can help you-"

"I already did. Seems they have no better way than I do," she smiled bitterly. "When the summer comes back, I'll be a boiled lobster in no time," she said with a rueful tone, trying to joke away her pain.

"That won't work on me," he said, sitting down next to her on the bed. "I thought we were better friends than that," he said, raising one eyebrow.

She laughed. "I guess."

"So what's really up?"

She moved her head from side to side, as if she was trying to decide what to say. After a heavy sigh she looked at him. "Did I tell you the first boy I kissed ended up in a coma for three weeks?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, and I'm just a kid- I mean, I'm not a kid," she said shaking her head around. "But to never be able to touch another human again without them being drained of whatever makes them... them-" She left the words hanging in the air.

"I get that you're scared of hurting people," he said. "Believe me, I get it," he said, waving his fingers in the air. "But you can't stop trusting yourself. - Listen to me, sounding more and more like a shrink."

She laughed. "Thanks Logan."

"Just don't worry too much kid, you might get prematurely grey."

"Thanks, I'll remember that," she chuckled when he got up. He turned in the doorway and looked at her. She nodded and smiled. He nodded back and then left without another word. All over again, she was grateful she'd found Logan to hitch a ride with.

**

Cecilia set her glass down and felt a rumble through her chest, not something completely unlike things she'd been through before. Only this time it was different, in some ways. She swallowed and then looked at Bobby as he ate his burger. "Bobby, the next - let's say 48 hours, around here are going to be intense and insane. And-"

"Why do you say that?"

Cecilia looked up to see another boy standing at their table, the one she'd seen Bobby with the day before.

"Oh, hey. John," Bobby said. "John, this is Cecilia. Cecilia, this is John Allerdyce."

"Nice to meet you," she said as he sat down beside Bobby.

"You too," he smiled quickly. "What did you mean by that?"

"By what?" Cecilia asked frankly.

"That whole 48 hours thing," John said, curious to the max.

"Just that the next few hours - I think it might be around 48 - is going to be crazy insane around here. And I sort of wish they didn't have to be..." She made a half shrug and looked down at her plate, picking up a carrot.

"Why?" Bobby asked, now as curious as John.

"Just the general feeling around here. Some thing's up, and they-" she nodded over at Storm and the new guy, Logan. "-know all about it, in due time."

John and Bobby exchanged looks, and they were both aware she pretended not to notice as she held the carrot in front of her. "Where do you think the word carrot came from?" she asked, out of the blue. "I mean, what do you think it really means? I somehow don't believe someone pulled an orange thing from the ground and decided to call it carrot, that makes no sense."

Bobby looked at her with an amazed smile and John laughed shortly. "Who knows?" John smiled and nudged Bobby's shoulder, noticing the smile on his face.

"Yeah," Bobby agreed. "Who knows?" On the inside Bobby was working overtime to try to wrap his head around what Cecilia had just said. He was stuck on the way she seemed to know, but not know. Most of all, he was stuck on the way she made it sound like she was going to be apart of it, in the midst of it all.

Even if she didn't want to be.

**

She folded the t-shirt and put it on the bed with the other ones, hoping the pile wouldn't tip over as she did. She ran her hands through her hair and pulled it up in the back of her neck, twirling it three times and then finally putting a rubber band around it. The laundry seemed never ending, like always, and Kitty just didn't like it one bit.

The other two beds were empty, not that they didn't have residents any more, just that the new residents didn't have loads of laundry they needed to fold and put away.

Kitty picked up the pile of t-shirts and moved towards the general direction of the closet door she knew she left open. The pile of clothes in her arms covered her face and she was stepping carefully as she knew she was getting close to the closet.

"Hey," as voice said suddenly and she was so surprised she made the clothes fly all over the room as she jumped.

"Sorry, " the voice said as she entered the room. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Kitty looked at Cecilia and exhaled softly. "No worries, but if you don't mind-" she hesitated. "Would you help me pick it up again? It takes forever folding these things."

"Oh, hey I'll help. I used to do it at home all the time."

"Hey, thanks," Kitty smiled as they started picking up the shirts from the floor.

"No problem," she replied as she put a huge pile on the bed. "How come you have all these shirts anyway?"

"My brother sends me a shirt about every other week, he's crazy but he has good taste in shirts."

"Single?" Cecilia asked as she looked at one of the shirts and was tremendously impressed.

"Gay," Kitty smiled.

"Of course he is," Cecilia smiled.

"So, any sisters of brothers for you?" Kitty asked, looking at up the girl opposite her bed.

She made a face, as if she wasn't sure of what to say. "No brothers," she said, seeming to settle on not saying anything more.

"Sisters, yeah, I wouldn't know. My brother is my only one, and he's a strange brother at that."

"He seems pretty generous to me," Cecilia said, holding up an Ed Hardy shirt.

Kitty laughed. "There are worse one's, I know I have something in here that's like, a Gucci I think."

"What?" Cecilia laughed. "You can't be serious?"

"I am, way. He's insane, I told you," Kitty laughed.

"Hey Kitty," Bobby said, standing in the doorway. Cecilia smiled at the sound of his voice, looking down at the bed and then and Kitty. Kitty smiled.

"Hey, common in."

"Thanks." He looked around the room. "What happened, did you kill the closet?" he laughed.

"Nope, new girl scared me," Kitty laughed.

"So, I managed to kill the pretty pile of folded shirts Kitty had made," she said innocently, turning around to look at him. He smiled at her, and she returned the smile.

"I think I got this covered," Kitty said, noticing the looks the two were sharing. "Why don't you go out and enjoy the sun, Cecilia?" Cecilia looked at her over her shoulder.

"You sure you don't mind?"

She shook her head and looked down at the many folded shirts. "Not at all, besides, you folded maybe three times as many as I did."

"Then I think I will. Go outside that is," she smiled nervously.

"Do you mind if I go with you?" Bobby asked her, his eyebrows worried.

"Not at all," Cecilia said as they left the room. Kitty shook her head and smiled. About time that boy finds someone, anyone, attractive, Kitty thought to herself.

"He has to stop sending me shirts," she said out loud and took an arm full off the bed.

**

"So," Bobby said, once they were outside in the sun. The entire walk down they'd been silent and a little strained, and he'd been pretty nervous.

"So," she echoed, and looked down at the ground.

"Cecilia-" He looked at her and stopped in the middle of the sun, squinting at her as the sun glared into his eyes. She stopped, her back to the sun and the garden. "How worried are you?"

She smiled nervously. "What are you talking about?"

"That whole 48 hours thing."

"You really should just forget about that, Bobby."

She turned away from him and continued down the small path that went through the garden. He hurried to catch up to her.

"Why?" he said, a little out of breath. Damn, she was fast.

"Because-"

"Bobby!" They turned to see John and Jubilation sitting by the oak tree.

"We should go say hello," Cecilia said, again walking away from Bobby. He just couldn't shake the feeling there was something she wasn't telling him, and for some reason it bothered him a lot more than it should have.

**

She looked at him and he smiled at her, his smile sweet and surprising. "Hi," he said.

"Hi."

Bobby smiled at her over John's shoulder, and she knew she should let it go but she didn't want him anywhere near what was going to happened.

"How was dinner?" she asked them. They nodded.

"Good. Jubilation wasn't to thrilled we ducked out early."

"It's your anniversary dinner!" she exclaimed. "You shouldn't duck out."

"That wasn't it," Bobby said, and John smiled at him over his shoulder.

"Sure wasn't- Hey Celie," he said, and she looked at him. John's eyes caught hers and Bobby sat down on the grass, leaning back in what was left of the evening sun.

"Yeah?" she said, matching his smile and voice in sweetness.

"What's you name?"

"You just said it," she laughed. "It's Cecilia."

"No, I mean, like- you're real name."

She looked from John to Bobby, who was holding his head up to look at them. "I have no clue what you're talking about."

"I'm Pyro, see," he said, flicking his lighter and a ball of fire forming in the palm of his hand. "And Bobby's-"

Bobby sat up and put his hand on the bench between John and Cecilia. She saw the almost blue colour of his skin and felt the coolness of the bench. When he lifted his hand there was a perfect rose under it, clear as glass. "Iceman," he whispered to her, looking up into her eyes with an almost overwhelming sense of adoration.

"Now, what's yours?" John asked, maybe very aware of the way Bobby was looking at her, or very ignorant of it.

"I don't know," she said with a soft and unsure smile, her eyes flicking from John to Bobby.

"What is it you do?" Bobby asked gently.

The garden was quiet for a long moment, the subdued sound of crickets and birds chirping filling their ears like music. Cecilia reached out one hand for Bobby, who was the closest to her even if he was on the ground. He looked at her and then at her hand.

"Take my hand," she prompted. "It's okay, I'm not like Rogue. I won't hurt you. I promise."

John watched Cecilia as Bobby took her hand, and before looking back at Bobby she flashed him a quick smile.

A full second didn't pass from that Bobby took her hand until he blinked a few times, like he couldn't believe it. He looked up at John. "Do you smell that?"

John shook his head. "No, what?"

Cecilia smile as he looked back at her with a surprised smiled. "It's like... Jasmine and the ocean- salt water, more like an ocean breeze. And-" He took a deep breath. "Elderberry blossoms? Yeah, and fresh laundry, that's been outside all day."

"Your favourite scents, am I right?" Cecilia asked,

Bobby nodded. "Right."

She held out her other hand to John, and smiled at him. "Do you trust me enough?"

"Not really," he said with a playful smile as he took her hand.

Trees. Charcoal. The smell of the sun and something sweeter, almost poisonously delicious. Strawberries, raspberries, wild strawberries...? No, it didn't fit.

"Cherries," she smiled.

"Yeah."

"You're one twisted mind, John Allerdyce. Charcoal and cherries?"

"How do you do that?" he said, now the amazed smile on his face instead of Bobby's.


	3. Chapter 3

3. Where you go from here

Rogue wasn't all too focused so when she saw the flicker of a lighter behind the back of the boy at the desk in front of hers she snapped back into reality. The fire gathered in the palm of his hand shaped a ball, this was the first time she really noticed him. She'd seen him around but wasn't sure who he was, not really. He looked at her over his shoulder and she stared at the ball of fire - fascinated.

The boy to her right moved, his hand stretched out and sent a stream of something in the direction of the fireball. It froze in a matter of milliseconds and dropped to the floor. The boy laughed silently, and the other boy apologized to the teacher, who right at the moment was Storm. The boy with the lighter, according to Storm, his name was John.

"Hey," the boy to her right whispered.

She looked at him and he smiled. He reached over and touched her desk, when he pulled his hand back there was a small seashell. "I'm Bobby."

"Rogue."

He nodded. "Welcome to mutant high."

**

Cecilia was standing in front of the wardrobe still, not sure what to put on. The skirt, yes, but a shirt... She barely had any, if you compared to Kitty who had like a million of them. For about a moment Cecilia wished her sisters were anything like Kitty's brother, but she knew that was out of the question.

She held out one of the long sleaved thinner shirts she had and looked in the mirror. "Maybe if I pair it with the Wonder woman shirt?" she thought out loud. She looked at her purple tights and decided the colour matched the purple in the long sleaved and that it would most certainly work.

"Nice shirt."

She spun around the shirts at her side and her mouth hanging open. "What are you doing?" she asked. "Don't you ever knock?"

"You still haven't covered up," he said, and sat down on the bed closest to the door.

"John," she said, her voice muffled as she pulled the long sleaved over her head. "You really need to learn how to knock. You and Bobby."

"Bobby always knocks. From what Kitty told me, you're the one who needs to learn how to announce you're around."

Cecilia smiled as she held the black t-shirt in front of her, looking in the mirror.

"Suits you," he smiled. She looked at his reflection in the mirror.

"Really?"

"You look... Nice." For lack of a better word? she asked herself.

"Thanks. What are you doing here John?"

"I'm here to ask if you'll join me for lunch, since Bobby is eating with the other new girl."

"What?" Cecilia asked, trying to stifle a laugh.

"He's having lunch with Rogue."

"After this morning, it's about a miracle she said yes!" Cecilia said, feeling more impressed than surprised.

"I know. Logan looked pretty bad when she let him go, huh?"

"Uhm, yeah. To say the least. Every vein in his body was pulsating, like she'd tried to suck the life right out of him."

"And you insist you're bad news," he mumbled.

"John, you don't know what I can do. Trust me, it's not pretty."

"Are you gonna keep saying that and never tell me or will you spill the beans any time soon?"

"A bit of both. You sort of know what I do, remember?"

"You said that was the small stuff, Celie."

She smiled. He was the first one to call her that. The people who used to call her Celie was her father, her uncle and her oldest sister... "It is, John."

"You keep saying my name like I might bite you," he said, a smile playing around the corners of his mouth.

"Would you prefer me calling you Allerdyce?"

He got up from the bed and stood only a foot away from her, his eyes locked on hers. "Maybe."

"Maybe," she repeated, feeling a little out of breath as he stepped away again.

"So, you'll meet me for lunch?" he asked, suddenly his normal cocky self again.

"Sure yeah, I'll see you then."

"Yup," he said, leaving the room as quietly as he'd come into it.

That's when it sunk in, when she was suddenly alone again. She'd really thought Bobby liked her, but he hadn't asked her for lunch. Or breakfast. Or dinner... And it sort of stung to admit it, but maybe he didn't like her at all. Maybe it had just been some game for him to make John think Bobby liked her so he would stay away?

She put a hand to her forehead and shook herself. No matter, if he liked Rogue she hoped Rogue was worth it. And the other way around, or someone was about to the their ass kicked.

She left the room, remembering to close the door behind her this time.

**

Rogue sat on the bench outside the house, looking around the big garden with a little hint of fear in her eyes. She sat there, wondering if she was even in the right place. She'd hurt Logan, the only one who'd ever really been good to her. On the other hand, he'd hurt her first. And he'd really seemed broken up about in the few seconds before she touched him. She took her mind off it all as she saw Bobby come up to her.

"Hey," she started.

"Hi," he said. "Rogue, what did you do to him?"

"Nothing-"

"You never, ever use your powers on another mutant. I hear the professor is really angry, that they're talking about what to do with you-"

It dawned on her that she wasn't wanted. Or needed.

"Maybe you should leave."

The words seemed to make her ears ring. She got up and started across the lawn.

**

"Hey Bobby," Cecilia said as she passed him in the door. Something made her turn around and look after him. "John, I'll be right there, okay?"

"Yeah," he said going into the cafeteria.

"Hey," she said, grabbing Bobby's arm. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing," he said. "I was just walking around in my own world."

Cecilia took a step back from him, nodding slowly. "Okay. I'll see you later."

"Yeah." He went out the front door and it seemed like it was the last time he'd ever do that, if you looked at the way he moved. Also, Cecilia was pretty sure the guy she'd just met wasn't really Bobby Drake - but who else could it be?

**

"Have you seen Rogue?" Bobby asked one of the boys as he passed him.

"No haven't seen her."

"Damn, she was supposed to meet me for lunch."

Bobby sat down at an empty table and looked over at John and Cecilia, who was laughing hard. He nodded to John.

"Got stood up?" John asked.

"I dunno, I can't find Rogue. Anywhere. And I have looked everywhere."

"But we just met you when we came in here-" John started.

"No, I was talking to Kitty and then I made my way down through the house looking for her. I just came down here."

"I need to talk to the professor," Cecilia said, getting up from her chair. "I could put money on that Rogue's run off."

"What?" the boys said, loudly, in unison.

"You'll see."

**

Kitty held her head in her hands, trying to block out the noise.

"You okay?"

"Fine," she said, looking up at the dark haired guy. "Damn, Remy, you scared me. I thought you were someone else."

"Like who?"

"I dunno. Welcome back," she said, with a small smile.

"I hear things. Thought it was best to come back before things got out of hand..."

"Yeah, maybe."

"Are you okay, really, Kitty?"

"I miss him." She looked up at Remy and smiled painfully.

"We all do, I think. How is he?"

"Mad as a hatter. But he seems happy."

"That's good, little one." Remy sat down next to her.

"How was surgery?" she asked.

Remy shook his head. "No difference. But I hear I'm not the only one who's not able to touch others any more." He smiled, nudging Kitty's knee with his own for the briefest moment. A small current went through her, quickly, and she laughed.

"Still tickles."

"As long as the tickling doesn't kill you, it's all fun and games," he smiled, his voice several shades of serious as well as playful.


	4. Chapter 4

4. How would you remember me?

The idea struck Cecilia later that day, when she was simply sitting around with a glass of water. She had been around John, Bobby and Kitty for the better part of the day. As the kitchen had been empty, it was her sanctuary for the moment, since her room – the one she shared with Kitty and Rogue – was not empty.

She contemplated the idea of suddenly not being around the people she had grown to like. The one's that seemed to bring out all kinds of strange feelings in her. John, who made her laugh so hard her stomach hurt. Bobby, who was about the sweetest person she'd ever met, with his charm and easy way of nature he was a delight to be around; so relaxing. And then Kitty, with her shy, bubbling personality who made her feel alive and accepted. There was something about this house, these people, that made Cecilia grateful for having been a part of it. No matter how briefly it would be.

She could taste what was coming, and it made her heart tumble in her chest.

Rogue looked up as Logan suddenly stood next to her. She made a face of pain, she knew it; she could see her reflection in his eyes.

"What happened, kid?" he asked her nonchalantly. Rogue looked away as he sat down next to her.

"The professor was mad at me," she said, looking away from him and out the train window.

"Who told you that?" he asked.

"A boy at school."

They were quiet for a while and then she looked back at him, which he seemed to notice as he looked intently at her.

"Do you think I should go back?" she asked him, honestly wanting his advise.

"I think you should follow your instincts," he said gently. Rogue could feel the beginning of tears in her eyes, the lump in her throat suddenly grown to beyond full size and almost making her choke.

"The first boy I ever kissed, he ended up in a coma for three weeks. I can still feel him inside my head. And it's the same with you," she continued, remembering the early morning when she'd tried to wake him from the nightmare. He'd pierced her through with his left hand claws, and she had been near death. Just when he held her, she remembered seeing him heal from the injuries when Storm and scot saved them. She'd reached out and touched him with her bare hand, his powers transferring into her for the moment, helping her heal. No, wrong, healing her completely. She'd never have made it through if it wasn't for him. It had barely been a day since then. It felt like weeks...

Tears started streaming down her face, and Logan pulled her against his shoulder. "There are not many people out there that would understand what you're going through, but think this guy Xavier is one of them. He seems to, genuinely, want to help you, and that's rare for people like us."

The lights started flickering, and Logan reacted fast. He stood up and looked around.

On the other side of the cart stood a man with a helmet, Rogue could see him as Logan extended his claws.

"You must be Wolverine," the man said with a slight chuckle.

Rogue watched as Logan went into attack mode – she'd seen it once before. But as the man at the other end of the cart moved his hand, Logan froze, and it almost seemed like he was hanging by some invisible string, his claws moving apart. Rogue could read the pain clear across Logan's face.

"What do you want with me?" Logan spat out with tremendous effort.

The man looked at him and smiled. "You? My dear boy, whoever said I wanted you?" he asked seriously and looked at Rogue.

Oh no, she thought and got up to run.

She didn't get far until she felt something hit the back of her neck. The next ting she knew she was falling aimlessly to the floor, the world becoming a black and grey haze.

"Hey," Bobby said as he entered the kitchen.

"Hi," Cecilia answered, looking at him with a slight feeling of fear in the pit of her stomach. He opened the fridge and stood there, his back to her, looking into the depth of the fridge. "Bobby?"

The tone of her voice would have made her look like that too, if it was directed at her. Her own nerves seemed to shine through pretty well right then.

"Yeah?" he said, pushing the door shut as he turned around.

She felt something go stiff inside of her. "I know this is a strange and sort of silly question, but how would you remember me? I mean, if something happened and we didn't have the chance to get to know each other better...?"

He looked at her, his deep eyes suddenly filled with a deep sorrow and worry. It was emotions her own face would be displaying, if she had the guts to admit she was scared.

"Why do you ask?" He leaned against the other side of the counter.

"Just something I was thinking about."

"I think I would remember you, as a pretty remarkable person. Someone I was sorry not to get to know further," he said, his eyes looking deep into hers. She could feel herself fill with the scent of elderberry blossoms again.

"Hey," John said, coming in through the same door Bobby had just come through. Cecilia smiled at him. "What are you two talking about?"

"I just asked Bobby how he would remember me, if he didn't get the chance to get to know me better."

"That's easy," John said, looking into her eyes. Bobby looked at John and shook his head.

"I'm'nna go see if they heard from Rogue," he said, picking up an apple on his way out.

"How is that easy?" Cecilia smiled at him, suddenly feeling more at ease now that Bobby wasn't around to hear any more.

John stepped around to where she was sitting with her glass of water, a strange kind of smirk on his face. "You might just be one of the-" he eyed her intently. "-sexiest women I have ever met, but that's not what makes it easy," he said, shaking his head as the smirk slowly faded. "What makes it easy is that you are the only person who has ever," his smirk grew back. "And I mean ever, been able to stun me into silence, the only women who's made me-"

John suddenly stopped, his eyes glazing over and he fell backwards. Cecilia looked at him, that sick feeling in her stomach finally reaching a high point. She looked up with a bitter taste in her mouth and a foul taste in her mouth.

"Took you long enough to dare come in here," she told the man with the dart gun. He fired a shot at her. The dart stuck in her shoulder and she glared at him.

"Aow," she said angrily before she started falling forward, the last thing she saw was the top of the counter coming closer at a scare pace.

Bobby entered the room, looking at Scott and Remy. "Excuse me, but did you hear anything from Rogue?" he asked.

They furrowed their brows and then he heard why.

"You said he wanted me!" he heard Logan more or less growl.

"I made a terrible mistake," said the muffled voice of the professor. "His helmet was some how designed to block my telepathy. I couldn't see what he was after until it was too late," the professor continued.

"Where are you going?" Storm called out.

Bobby looked at the doors, waiting for them to any minute burst open.

"I'm going to find her!" Logan spat.

"How?" the professor asked coolly.

"The traditional way; look!"

Bobby stood completely still beside Remy, the only other remaining person in the room. "When did you get back?" he hissed under his breath.

"A few hours ago," he hissed back.

"-can't do this alone!" they heard Storm call.

"Who's' gonna help me? You? S far you've done a bang up job!" Logan roared.

Bobby looked up as John staggered into the room. Bobby was at his side and helped hold him steady. "What happened?" he asked.

John held out his arm. "They need to know."

Bobby, John and Remy burst through the doors. Everyone looked at them, surprised.

"Cecilia's been kidnapped," John managed to stutter before he passed out. Bobby, holding onto him pretty hard, toppled over along side John as he went limp.

"Fight with us," Storm said. Bobby looked up at them and for the first time he saw Logan really look at him.

"There's a whole world out there," Logan said, looking back at Storm. "People who hate and fear you, and you're wasting your time trying to protect them... If it wasn't for Rogue, I'd say no."

"I just saw Cecilia, they can't have gone far," Bobby said, his voice a little higher than he would have liked.

Cecilia woke up to see Rogue passed out against the other wall. She looked around in a hurry, looking from Rogue to – uh-oh!

On top of a crate sat a man, his skin tone a sick shade of green and his crouch looking a lot like that of a toad, or a frog.

"Wakey, wakey," he said, his voice cracked and filled with contempt. She was weak, tired, confused. She'd been given something, a drug of some kind. The room was suddenly very shaky under her.

She noted the statue of liberty outside the window and realized why she felt so wobbly. They were on a boat!

"Magnificent, isn't she?" the man said, the other man that she hadn't seen. Rogue was coming to opposite her, glaring up at him.

"I've seen it," Cecilia and Rogue said at once, sharing a smile as they did.

"I saw it first in 1949. America was going to be the land of tolerance, of peace," he droned on. Even though Cecilia didn't like him much, in fact she thought he was about the dumbest thing she'd ever met, kidnapping two girls, he had a point that hit home.

The world was in uproar as the mutants were coming out all over the place, the debate raged on everywhere. The idea of having mutants register was a dumb one, and Cecilia didn't understand the need to control evolution all of a sudden. People were strange, and no doubt was it like the second coming of World War Two. She'd read the headlines on the internet. 'World war 2 – part 2!' Some stated the issue with pride, other with concern. But no matter what, what the man in front of her was telling them had her mind in a whirl. She didn't fully understand what he was saying, but she sure as hell didn't like it.

"So, you're saying- I'm going to die?" Rogue asked, her voice trembling.

"Hey!" Kitty hit his cheek harder. "Come on John, open your eyes," she said stubbornly as she patted his cheek again.

Remy sat on a chair by the side of John's bed and Bobby was pacing the floor.

"Would you stop that?" Remy asked, his Cajun accent suddenly palpable.

"Sorry," Bobby said, stopping himself mid stride.

"It's okay," Remy said, waving away the apology. Kitty looked at him, and her face scrunched.

"I don't know what to do any more. Did all of them leave?"

"Not all of them," Bobby said. "But all the one's with the medical experience."

"That sucks," Kitty said, taking a step back and sitting down on the bed next to John's. She looked at Remy. "You think you could zap him back to life?" she smiled, half joking, half serious.

"I have my doubts that would make anything better, chere," Remy replied. She noticed how wide his Cajun accent had suddenly gotten, the French making her spine shiver.

"I don't think it could get any worse," Bobby said. He'd tried to cool John off, making him wake up from a startling chill. But it hadn't helped. Kitty had tried everything she knew to make people wake up. She's even shouted at him that he was a girl scout. He hadn't as much as flinched.

"If he never wakes up, I blame the two of you."

Remy removed the glove from his right hand and reached out to John's hand. Their skin barely touched before John's skin seemed to crackle a little from the current. His eyes flew open and he gasped for air.

"What the hell was that?" he shouted. He then looked to his side, the side Remy was on and a wave of understanding washed over him.

He relaxed back against the pillows. "Welcome back, man," he said, suddenly looking exhausted.

"How you doing?" Kitty asked him.

"They fucking shot me, so I'm peachy," John said in a voice close to acid.

"No need for that," the professor said, suddenly in the doorway.

"Sorry," John mumbled.

"Have you heard anything?" Bobby asked quickly.

"I have. They're almost there now, and it seems Cecilia is sending out her signature all over the place in hope of help."

Kitty looked from Bobby to John, both of them wearing a 'that's my girl' kind of smile. She shook her head and even if she wasn't a seer, she predicted trouble.

"HELL NO!" Cecilia shouted as the green man held her, forcing her forward. "There is no way in hell I am going to let you do this to her!"

"Let us?" the green man chuckled. "Like you have a choice."

"What do you need me for anyway, huh? What am I going to be doing?" she spat.

"You, dearest," the older man said. "You are the key to make sure we are not discovered."

Cecilia felt like laughing out loud, falling over on the floor and laughing her heart out. "Well, too bad," she smirked. "I already sent out my signature for miles around. I had a few hours to do it, remember? You should really have made sure that drug worked a little better!" she said triumphantly.

The man, she'd learned his name was Magneto, looked at her with cold contempt. "Chain her to the railing," he smiled wickedly. "So she can watch her friend die."

"NO! NOOO!" she cried out, looking helplessly as they dragged Rogue up the stairs to the machine. The man in the shade of green, Magneto called him Toad, chained her to the railing. He seemed almost apologetic as he did.

Cecilia cried, loosing focus for the minutes she heard Rogue cry out for them to stop – she was handcuffed to the machine and unable to move. Cecilia knew what was coming next, Magneto would touch her, give her a bit of his power and then they would power up the machine. All because of the summit on Ellis Island and the discussion of the mutant question. It seemed so stupid, so ignorant to do this to helpless people, people who had never harmed anyone, or that was what she assumed anyway.

That's when she saw the mist rolling in, and heard the sound of engines.

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

They had come for them!

Rogue screamed for all she was worth while Magneto touched her, the pain of his life force forcing it's way into her shooting through her. The long toothed man smiled at her, holding onto Magneto.

Suddenly Magneto growled at the other man to go, and Rogue felt hope. That was, until she passed out.

Cecilia could hear the fight, but couldn't quite see it. If she had been able to, she might have been able to blank the sabre toothed guys senses, making him loose footing. Instead, she looked up at Rogue, who had passed out several minutes earlier. The shining, shimmering white light was growing around the machine and Cecilia felt worried like never before. She thought of Bobby and John, of Kitty and Jubilation, of all the people she knew, of all the mutants that would be targeted thanks to Magneto. Thanks to this evil little plan.

As rage flowed through her, she looked at the weak figured she assumed was Magneto. He had that damn helmet on – maybe it could block her?

And then it came to her.

She'd never done it before, but she saw Logan was getting close, he was so close he could get to Rogue and save her, if the machine just halted for a little while, throwing them all of for a moment. She heard Scott's voice, he was calling out for her.

"HERE!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Scott looked to handsome in the uniform, his dark hair tussled and his glasses seeming to glow. He hurried up to her and aimed at the chains. The ray of red cut them off and she smiled at him.

"Are you okay?" he yelled over the noise.

"I'm still weak, but I need you to do something for me!" she yelled back.

"What?" He looked doubtful.

"I need you to catch me when I faint!"

John looked at Bobby where he sat on his own bed, apparently able to read despite everything. "Do you think they're okay?"

"I dunno. I hope so."

John looked out the window, remembering the smell of cherries. "Me too."

Cecilia zoned in on Rogue, tried to find her essence across the distance moved past all the sticky scents, the cold and hard minds, pushing through until she found the soft smell of chocolate and maple syrup. Sure enough, that was Rogue.

At first, she tried to numb her smell – which seemed to work.

Cecilia was already shaking in Scott's arms. He didn't say anything, but she could feel him steady her.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

She pushed a little further, making Rogue blind, mute. By then she was gasping with the strain of it all. It was too great a distance...!

She pulled herself up, feeling the understanding in Rogue's mind as Cecilia made herself known, trying to imprint on her what she was trying to do.

Slowly, Cecilia shut off every one of Rogue's senses. The logic didn't falter – Magneto had said that it was Rogue's powers that would make her the fuel for the machine. It was only logical that if her powers suddenly stopped working, as well as the rest of Rogue's senses, the machine would stop working.

With her forehead clammy with sweat, her muscles shaking at the strain, her head pounding like a jack hammer and her heart beating way too fast, she pushed hard, closing her eyes and turning everything in Rogue off.

She found her powers, and put a wall around them, putting them in a box that would act like a concrete bunker for a while. She made sure the locks were on tight on the bunker before she dared to open her eyes. Magneto was raging mad, almost jumping up and down, as the machine puled back, slowly stopping.

Cecilia saw Logan make his move, before she felt Scott gather her to him, holding her tight. She smiled, and let herself let go.


	5. Chapter 5

5. Tell me what day it is

Bobby and John hurried up to them, seeing the limp, lifeless bodies of Rogue and Cecilia.

"What the hell happened?"

"We saw the news!"

"Are they going to be okay?"

"Is that blood?"

"Where was she?"

The questions came in a rush and from both boys in a jumble.

"We need to get them downstairs," Jean said simply.

John snuck down the stairs a few nights later, managing to get into the room where Cecilia was resting. He looked at her closed lids, and sort of wished it had been him in her place.

Scott had told him, Bobby and Kitty what she'd done. That was the first time John had understood what an immense power she had. And why she had been so careful around him and Bobby, as well as Kitty. She'd been very controlled when she had touched them, made sure not to hurt them by holding their hands – and maybe it had been for her protection as well. So she wouldn't burn herself out like this.

He'd been sitting at her side for almost and hour, holding her hand gently. He was getting tired, and he had another long day tomorrow. But, he'd just had to see her. He rose from his chair, looking down at her peaceful face.

He touched her hair, that soft golden mane of hers and smiled. Her hair was getting flatter, the curls were wearing off in the absence of Cecilia in there. At least, that's how he saw it. She wasn't in there, she was in need of vacation and had skipped out on her body. It was a shame, he thought, stroking her cheek gently.

"Come back soon," he whispered in her ear, before he squeezed her hand one last time and left.

When he was heading up the stairs he was taken aback with himself, barely recognizing the affection her felt for her. He was very much out of his element here, normally he'd try to get with her and get out. But Cecilia... She wasn't as easy to read as other girls, like other people.

Like him, she understood what it was like to actually be a danger to people...

Rogue sat in the kitchen, still sore just about everywhere, and studied the streak of white in her hair. The bruises on her wrists had healed, so had the open cuts – all thanks to Logan. If he hadn't held her so close when he thought she was dead, he wouldn't have passed over his healing to her, again.

But she was grateful to him.

"Hi," she heard a by now familiar voice.

She looked up to see Bobby standing in the doorway.

"Hey yourself," she smiled. "Can't sleep?"

"Nah, I heard John moving around and couldn't settle back in after he made all the noise," he smiled.

"what did he do?"

"I think he snuck out, he's been pretty annoyed at the fact that he hasn't been allowed outside."

"Is he still getting those dizzy spells?" Rogue asked, suddenly concerned. She didn't like John very much, but he was Bobby's friend, Cecilia's friend, Kitty's friend as well as Remy's friend. The past few days Rogue had spent a lot of time with Remy, trying to clear her head and pick his brain about this whole not being able to touch people thing, that they shared.

"Yeah," Bobby nodded, looking at his fingers as he picked apart a napkin. "This morning he was standing at the wardrobe and suddenly he just swayed, like he lost his footing on solid ground."

"What did Dr Grey say?"

Bobby smiled, and she knew she was about the only one to call her doctor instead of miss. "She says it's the dart that was meant for Cecilia, the poison or whatever was in it has affected his nerves." He let the pieces of the napkin fall on the counter as he waved his hands and looked up. "How are you feeling, anyway?" he said, looking at the white in her hair.

"Better. I finally feel like there's no one else in my head," she smiled. "And, I think I can finally start to get over it."

Bobby reached across the counter and put his hand over hers, the glove between them as he an his thumb over the back her hand. "You're gonna be fine," he said, and she could hear the confidence in his voice.

The smell of cherries and charcoal made her smile as she walked around the big suit. It was a hotel room, that was pretty obvious. The nice white linens on the the bed, the fluffy brown couch and the hardwood floor. The colour of the walls were cappuccino brown and off-white, to match the interior. On the small wooden table stood a huge bowl of cherries, and she bent to pick on up. She turned around at the sound of something crackling.

The fireplace, as silent as it had been a second earlier, was full of life. By the side of it a young man was crouching. She looked out the window and saw a clear winters day. She looked back at him, and he was suddenly standing.

"I sure hope I'll get to see this day," he said under his breath, looking her over. She realized she wasn't wearing much in ways of clothes. The short purple dress showed off her body, and the tight t-shirt on his upper body didn't leave much to her imagination either. His snug jeans kept her glance a little longer than it should have been there.

He smiled at her, moving close to her, his hand touching her arm with an almost electric sense of heat.

His hand touched hers kept it in his as he leaned in a took deep breath, breathing her in like she was his favourite scent in the whole world. He looked at her, his eyes burning into hers, like his skin was burning into her, melting them together. She could have sworn she's never been so attracted to another person in her life.

The way he touched her, the way he spoke to her, the idea of his kisses – her heart was making back flips in her chest, and the butterflies as the idea of his hands running over her body, no she couldn't deny it any longer.

The attraction was there, and she wanted him too.

"Tell me something," he said, his voice thick with passion, touching her hair, caressing her cheek. "How come you just won't admit you want me to take you?" His lips were right against her, and she surrendered to him.

That's when she finally woke up, gasping for air, alone in a white, cold room. Her eyes flitted across the room, trying to make sense of where she was. She'd never been there before, she was sure of it.

And she could still smell the cherries and charcoal.

"Dude, hey!" Bobby shook John hard to wake him up.

"What?" he growled in his sleep.

"Cecilia's awake," Kitty's voice rang.

"What?" he sat up in his bed and looked around the room. All the smiling faces of his friends seemed to tell him it was true.

Suddenly he stopped blaming himself for not being able to stop her kidnapping and by default stop everything that had happened to her; he was just too happy.

Kitty had been with Cecilia for over an hour, but she really just wanted to talk to her brother. She knew he'd been in New York that day, and wondered if he'd seen what had- almost, happened.

The line to the phone was short, so when she finally got to shut the door behind her she felt like she was one step closer to hearing her brother's voice, and he always had a way of making her feel all was right with the world.

"Hey kid, I know it's you, you're the only one with this number," his voice mail started. She smiled. "I know you'll get worried right about now, but don't be. Call me again soon, sweetheart, and I'm pretty sure I'll pick up. Today is just a crazy busy day. Love you, Kittycat."

She felt better already. See, she told herself. It helped just hearing his voice.

Rogue was in the common room playing fooseball with John and Bobby when she saw Logan come down the stairs with his bag over his shoulder. She looked away for a moment and almost scored a goal. When she looked back up, Logan was heading out the door.

"Cover for me, would you?" she asked Bobby, who nodded and smiled.

She hurried over to Logan and stopped him.

"You're leaving?" she asked.

He turned around. "Yeah. For now."

"Were you goin?"

He smiled and reached around his neck, taking his old necklace off. "I'll be back for this," he said, placing it in the palm of her hand and then gently closing her hand around it. She smiled at him, feeling a little sad that he was leaving, but she understood it. She gave him a quick hug and then stood there as the door closed.

"Rogue!" Bobby called. "He's winning!" She turned back and took her place by the table again, feeling a little better about her life.

"How are you feeling?"

She looked up from her book and saw scot standing there. She smiled at him, tired as she was she could muster up a full hearted smile for the man that had kept up spirits and body up when she was about to black out.

"I'm good, well," she glanced over at Jean who'd raised an eyebrow. "I'm better anyway." She took a breath as he sat down on the chair by her bed. "Did it really work?" she asked him, almost in a whisper as if she didn't believe it herself.

"It did. But I'd rather you never did that again," he said, patting the back of her hand. "Been a long time since I was that scared," he said, looking over at Jean. Cecilia smiled.

"I'll try not to," she reassured him.

"You wouldn't dare, not until you learn how to hold you mind," Jean said, shooting her a scolding look.

"I said I wouldn't." Then she remembered the massive bunker she'd put Rogue's powers in. "How long did it last?"

"About five minutes," Scott said. "According to Logan. Or, maybe fifteen, it was all very jumbled up there," he stated.

She gave a single nod and then looked at Scott, really looked at him. "If your eyes are half a beautiful as they are when they are blazing with fire, it's a real shame you have to wear those goggles all the time."

"How..?" he started. She smiled and shrugged.

"Even I don't know everything about me," she said, almost in a whisper.


	6. Chapter 6

6. When I turn to you

Bobby took her hand and lead her down the stairs, her eyes on the steps the entire time. Bobby couldn't tear his eyes away from her.

"Are you sure you're okay enough to be going outside?" he asked hesitantly.

"Sure I am," she smiled the moment her foot hit the floor of the hallway. "I'm fine, Bobby, don't worry so much," she said looking from him to the living room.

"How you doing today, John?" Bobby called.

John turned and half smiled. "Just fine, man. No worries."

"Great." Bobby turned back to Cecilia,holding her hand firmly. "Come on."

The look in Cecilia's eyes when she'd seen him... He didn't know quite how to take it. Nor he did know what hell to do about Bobby Drake, who one moment was - what's the word? – courting, Rogue, and the next he was flirting with Cecilia. John wanted nothing more than to be the guy who was there for her now that she needed support, someone to hold on to when she felt weak. But the poisoning he'd gotten from the darn dart just seemed to stick around. He'd thought about the fact that maybe the poison wasn't what made him weak and wobbly any more.

Maybe she did.

But he'd disregarded that idea and started to work out again, trying to rebuild what he'd lost in the last week. Slowly and carefully. Running a few miles, lifting a few weights and every now and then he would go down to the Danger room and stretch his powers. It was always a nice work out, and it seemed to clear his head of Cecilia for a while.

TV obviously wasn't doing the job, he discovered as he turned back to watch The OC. The idea of Bobby alone with Cecilia made his mind twitch.

"So, what did you do?" Bobby asked her. She knew what he meant, but she wasn't sure wanted to talk about it.

"When?" she tried sounding as innocent as she could, but she wasn't sure she reached her goal.

"When you were kidnapped, what happened?"

She thought about telling him about the Toad and Magneto, about how she'd been chained to the railing and heard the awful things they were about to do to humanity. Then she thought about telling him how she'd cried for him and John, how she'd wished to hear Kitty laugh one more time, to listen to the sound of Piotr droning on and on when he was training; him and his Colossus self. She thought about her sisters and her parents, about not wanting to be a mutant any more. She contemplated telling him all of it.

But the dream about John had stuck with her. She hadn't talked to him yet, and she wanted him to know first. That she'd cried for him that was.

"I really don't remember much," she said, looking up at him to see Rogue behind him.

"You don't?"

She shook her head, as Rogue put one finger to her lips. She smiled softly, looking down, and then heard how Bobby laughed as Rogue put her hands over his eyes. She looked at them and saw how Bobby was turning away from her. But that was okay, even if she liked him more than a lot. She did, she liked him more than she should. But as much as she liked him, even adored him in part; he was strong and safe, she waned to be around him as much as she possibly could.

"I think I'm gonna go inside," Cecilia said, sounding weaker than she'd have hoped she would.

"Hey, I'll take you," Bobby said, getting up from his place on the bench. He turned to Rogue and said "I'll be right back."

Rogue smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere this time."

"Good."

They were walking up towards the house when Cecilia started to feel dizzy and weak. "Bobby- I feel funny." And then her legs folded under her. He caught her, holding her to him and then, looking into her eyes, she could see him make the decision.

"I'm gonna pick you up, okay?"

"Okay," she nodded and closed her eyes as he swooped her up in his arms.

John was getting up from the couch, finally tired of everyone else's drama, when he saw Bobby coming through the door. In his arms he held Cecilia, who was leaning her head against his shoulder. It was all very wonderful, in a fairytale kind of way – it made him wanna puke. He hated the sight of her in his arms, and this was just what he'd been waiting for. Bobby was strong enough to be her knight in shining armour while he was just the dumb ass who made her laugh. What a waste of time...!

Bobby carried her up the stairs, where John had been headed. Now he thought about turning around and heading down to the basement. He needed to blow off some steam.

"Thanks Bobby," she whispered as he placed her on her bed.

"No problem," he said, placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

"What are friends for, right?" she asked, her eyes fixing on him. He looked a little stunned, but then managed to smile at her.

"Right."

She closed her eyes, and fell asleep before Bobby even left the room.

For the first time in his time at Mutant high, John wanted to kill someone. But most of all, he wanted to fade away. He'd seen the kiss, the tender moment. Now he was standing in the doorway to Cecilia's room, and he couldn't take his eyes off of her. He regretted the day he'd met her, and he never wanted to hear her voice again.

He turned around and walked down the hall to his own bedroom. He half expected Bobby to be brooding on a bed, but no Bobby.

For a long while he just stared in the mirror, seeing the world grow dark outside as he did. He thought about all the crap he'd pulled, he tried to repress all the shit he'd had to go through just make it out alive. More or less in one piece...

He tore his eyes from the pain in his own eyes and looked down at a scar on his arm. It was barely there any more, bot once it had been as red as fire and nasty as hell. Not that he hadn't deserved it, but he still wish his old man had been a little better about it. He didn't have to use the rusty old knife he kept in his pocket, he could have taken a clean kitchen knife instead, the wound wouldn't have been so bad...

Days went by, they went through the motions, school and breakfast, lunch and dinner, they watched movies and tried to have some kind of normal life. Only, when Cecilia was around, John never was, and vice versa. No one noticed, not really. Apart from themselves.

Then, a week and a half later Cecilia was finally feeling strong enough to face John. She'd been thinking about the dream she'd had ever since she woke up, more or less all the time. She'd figured out just what to say to him, how to greet him, how to make him stay put.

So, when the others were outside, playing and having fun, Cecilia went to see John. She stood in the doorway a little while, looking at him as he read.

"Hey," she said, trying on a smile. He looked up at her.

The sound of her voice sent some kind of current through him, and his feelings seemed to rattle loose in his chest as he took her in. She was stunning in a sharp yellow dress with a floral pattern at the bottom, around her knees, and a dark green cardigan. Her legs were bare and he couldn't help but notice how soft her skin looked. He wanted to kick himself for thinking about it.

"Hey," he said, trying not to sound to cold or to warm.

"Can I come in?" she asked, apparently aware of his distance.

"Why not?" he said, closing the book and putting on the bedside table. He turned and swung his legs over the side of his bed and stood to pull a shirt over his bare chest.

"You never get cold do you?"

He raised an eyebrow and shook his head after a little while. He lifted up the lighter and flicked it, a ball of fire forming in his other hand. "Very rarely."

"But it happens?" she asked, circling around his bed.

"Sure." He didn't know what she was getting at, but he really wished she'd just say it already. "I dunno where Bobby is-"

"What? - John, look." She met his eyes dead on, resolve written clear across her face.

"Whatever it is you need to say, you might wanna say it to Bobby," John said, very aware of ho cold his voice sounded.

"Why do you keep bringing up Bobby? I'm trying to tell you something!" She was annoyed with him; good, he wasn't too happy at her ether.

"Why? You don't need me," he said a little louder than he'd planned.

She just stared at him, her mouth open a fraction and her eyes filled with anger.

"You got Bobby, why are you even here? I told you, I dunno where he is."

"I know where Bobby is, that's not why I'm here," she said, her voice suddenly weaker.

"Then why are you wasting my time?" He glared at her, full aware of the aggression he was giving off.

"Because! I – I wanna tell you something you, you- idiot!" She was yelling at him. Her hands were waving all over the place and she looked like she was boiling.

Good, join the club honey.

"Spit it out and get out!"

"Don't you take that tone with me, Allerdyce! Not you!" She put all the weight on his name and on the last 'you'.

He flinched. "What do you mean, not me?" His voice was still angry, but there was something telling him to cool off and listen.

She looked down at her hands, away from him. He missed her eyes. They'd been locked with his while they were screaming at each other. When she looked up, he saw the tears in her eyes and something inside him began to ache.

"You are such a hothead, Allerdyce, you never listen and you think you know it all!" she restarted. "I came in here to tell you- to tell you about that night in the kitchen. I wanted to hear what you had to say about it, but you are to stubborn to want to listen to me, to stubborn to admit that you miss me – don't you start, I can see it in your eyes, you idiot!"

"So what?" he yelled back at her. "Why do you care what I think anyway? You got your hero, he can be there for you in ways I can't! So run along and find precious Bobby, cos I know he'd want to listen, he'd wanna hear it all and he'd be there for you and comfort you and be the good guy! Well guess what? I'm not! I am a hothead and I'm an ass, believe me baby I know it! So don't you come in here and tell me who I am cos I know all to well who and what I am! And that's pure troub-"

"I cried out for you!"

That shut him up.

"When they took me, in the car, I cried out your name." Her voice was just loud enough for him to hear her. "Not Bobby's. Not Logan's. Not Scott's. I wanted you. When they left me without food, you were the only thing in my head. You, John."

She'd taken a few steps closer to him, tears falling for her eyes. She just stood there, she'd surrendered and given up on him. She was crying hard and it was all he could do to fight the urge to hold her.

"Why are you telling me?" He wasn't to sure of his own voice by then, so he kept it low and soft.

She looked up, more tears falling from eyes. "Because, and trust me on this, I'm as much of a hard ass as you are. The shit I've seen and had to live through," she touched the back of her hand, she probably thought he wouldn't notice but he did. It was the same movement he'd done a hundred time.

"What did they do to you?" he asked, taking a step closer. Her eyes locked with his again and he felt better. More complete.

She shook her head. "Never mind all that. It's over and done with, never again," she said with great confidence. "But I also trust myself, even with what I can do." She touched his hands. "You might be a force of destruction, Pyro," she said his name so tenderly it almost made him kiss her. Almost. "But so am I. Not that two wrongs make a right," she said smiling, looking down at their hands. "But I think these two wrongs..." she was so close to him, he could just bend down and touch his lips to hers, and there would be no distance to be closed before. Then she looked up at him. "They might make an okay."

He took her hands, pulling her to him, her head resting against her chest. He still held her hands, between their bodies. He could feel her heart beat hard against his chest, and he smiled.

"I'm glad you told me." And that was all he was going to admit. For now.

Bobby put his arm around Rogue as they were heading up the stairs. "Do you think she talked to him?"

"Yeah, at least I hope so," Rogue said. "It's been a strange week..."

"That's for sure."

"Thanks for tonight." She looked at him with a big smile on her face.

"You're welcome." He took his arm from around her shoulder and she turned to face him. He touched the white in her hair and smiled. "What are you doing tomorrow night?"

"I dunno, depends on what you have planned," she answered sweetly.

"See you after school?" he asked hopefully.

"By the front door," she nodded.

"Night," he said while she put her back to the door and turned the knob.

"Night," she said, holding his eyes. When she'd disappeared into the room, he stood there for a long moment, not really sure of what to do. Then he heard her talking to Kitty and Cecilia. He felt a little sad – why did he still want it to be Cecilia he said goodnight to?


	7. Chapter 7

7. When you don't talk

Kitty began the very long walk from their room to the classroom – all of 90 feet. She bounced down the stairs and smiled at Remy and Scott who was discussion something in the hallway.

"Hey, guess what?" she beamed at them.

They looked just about as confused as they could get. "What?"

"My brother's coming to visit!"

"Really?" Remy asked, just about as happy as Kitty.

"You know him?" Scott asked. Remy nodded.

"'Course. I lived with him while I wasn't here, Kitty sent me his way. And I'll always be grateful for it, chere," he smiled.

"Hey, no prob. I mean, my brother is like, the best. Mad as a hatter, but the best for sure."

"How mad?" Scott asked, his brow furrowing.

"He's not gonna harm anyone. Besides, he's just gonna say a few hours. To have dinner with me. The professor said it would be okay, so I hope everyone else is cool with it," she added, suddenly a little worried about peoples reactions to her brother.

"Don't worry, mon petit, they'll like him. No worries," Remy smiled.

"Thanks," she smiled back.

"What's his name anyway?" Scott asked, seeming to be warming up to the idea of a visitor.

John hit Bobby across the shoulder, jumping over the bench to sit down next to him. "What's up?" he asked, notably happier. Bobby looked at him with surprise.

"I was about to ask you the same thing, did you hit your head in the shower again?"

"Funny, Drake." John cocked a smile and looked at the basketball court. "When's the game?"

"Ten minutes. Wanna join us?"

"I might," John said, another smile on his lips.

"What are you so happy about?" Bobby asked him, almost laughing at his friend. Someting was different about him. Since the kidnapping and the incident with the machine on Ellis Island, John had been some strange shell of himself, never cocky and playful, always angry.

"Oh, nothing," John said, a pretty obvious lie.

"Uh-huh," bobby said, eyeing him suspiciously. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," John said honestly.

"yeah, I can see that," Bobby smirked. "You seem different."

"I had an uh- an epiphany yesterday. Sort of changed my way of looking at things."

"I can tell," Bobby laughed as John handed him his bottle of soda. "Did you hear Kitty's brother's coming to visit?"

"Yeah. Hasn't he been here once before?"

"No, that was Jubilee's brother."

"Right-o."

Bobby shook his head, slightly laughing as he looked out over the court. The sun was shining and it looked like it was going to be a good day.

Cecilia stepped out of the shower and looked at herself in the mirror. The cuts on her shoulder had almost healed – they hadn't been much to start with, but that damn Toad hadn't been the nicest guy she'd ever met. In a lot of ways he reminded her of her father right after her sisters disappeared. When they got declared dead a year later, Celie had been very grateful to go live with her grandmother.

That was when she discovered her ability. When she accidentally made her Nan blind when she was going to surprise her with a freshly baked pie.

Her Nan had told her about her great uncle Shawn, who'd been extraordinary, just like she was. But her father hadn't know about his uncle, so Nan told her to keep it a secret as long as he was grieving.

Then, four years later, she'd finally told him.

When she stood here looking in the mirror she suddenly missed her Nan something terrible, and wished she could call her and talk to her. Only that would take something more than a phone and a mutant power to do.

She touched what was left of the cuts on her shoulder and reached fr the lotion. She hoped the other girls had gone to class already. Cecilia knew she was running late, but she didn't care. It was gym, and she was still excused. Why even show up?

To see John.

She smiled, seeing the radiance of her own smile and she blushed.

Kitty was pacing the floor of their room.

"Would you stop doing that?" Rogue asked her, looking up from her place on the floor with her homework.

"He's late," Kitty said, her hands falling out in a strange new gesture. "He's never late." She knew she sounded agitated, but she couldn't help it. She was worried!

"Come on now, I know you got her here somewhere. I just talked to her last night. Where are you keeping that sister of mine!"

His voice boomed up the stairs, and Kitty started laughing. She ran out the room and saw him in the hallway. She squeed and started down the stairs. She saw him drop his bag and turn to her.

"ERIC!" she called taking the last few steps three a the time. She reached the bottom of the stairs and flew into his arms. He caught her, spinning her round, round.

When he finally put her down they were both smiling like crazy. "Hi, little one," he said and smiled at her, stroking a lose strand of hair out of her face.

"Hi to you too, big one." She leaned against his shoulder and he put his arm around her. He bent down to pick up his bag and then they started through the house. "How 'bout a tour?" she asked.

"Sounds awesome," he smiled.

They passed through the hall to the living room. "Hey guys, this is my brother."

Bobby and John leaned their heads backwards and smile up at them. "Hi," they waved.

"This is John and this is Bobby," she said, pointing to each of the guys. "And that guy over there is Piotr," he waved.

"You're huge," Eric laughed.

"I'm Colossus." Piotr stretched.

"Yeah, you are," Eric said and looked at Kitty. "I think he likes you," he whispered in her ear. Kitty looked up at him with amazement.

"Yeah, right," she said, like that was ever gonna happen.

"Yeah. Right." Eric sounded convince though.

"That's Jubilation over there in the corner," she waved, taking in Kitty's brother. "And that's two of our teachers, Dr Jean Grey and Scott Summers." They nodded.

"Hey," he said.

"Okay, moving on," Kitty sad, leading him to the kitchen, were Storm was making some tea. "This is Ororo Munroe, also known as Storm." Storm turned around and inhaled sharply. "This is my brother, Eric."

"Hello Eric," she said, her voice reminding Kitty of velvet.

"Miss Munroe."

"Please, call me Storm."

"Very well," Eric smiled, and suddenly Kitty understood he was flirting. She punched him in the ribs when Storm turned around to pull the teabag from her cup.

"You don't flirt with my teachers," Kitty hissed under her breath.

"Flirting? Who said I was flirting?" he hissed back in a jumble.

"I'm not stupid," she mumbled.

"Better not be, you're my sister," he mumbled back under his breath.

"So, Eric, how long are you staying?" Storm asked as she turned around, this time her cup of tea in her hands.

"Just for the night."

"What about the bag?" she asked, her smooth face suddenly troubled.

"For the little one. Clothes."

Kitty looked up at him with big eyes. "More clothes?" She felt seriously worried about having to stash more stuff in the already jam packed wardrobe.

"Yup," he smiled.

"You're a good brother," Storm said sweetly. Eric looked at her with a flirty smile and nodded shyly.

"I try."

"Okay, and we're moving again. Say bye Storm,"

"Bye Storm," Eric laughed over his shoulder as Kitty pushed him in front of her out of the kitchen.

"Would you not flirt with the teachers?" Kitty laughed, as hey made their way down the corridor.

"I wasn't flirting!" Eric laughed back at her and she raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, you were," she said, this time a little more serenely.

"Okay, so I was, what's the harm? I'm leaving soon anyway." He looked down at her, grabbing her arm and stopping. "Are you okay here, Kitty?"

She faced him, trying to think of a way to really convince him. "I am. Really, Eric. I like my friends, especially my new roomies, Rogue and Cecilia are pretty cool. And, you know, it's not bad. The rooms are pretty big, although the closet is straining to keep all my clothes locked away," she smiled at him. "And I'm really learning a lot."

"You wanna show me?"

"Maybe later," she nodded. She stuck her arm through his and they started down the corridor.

"There's some pretty hot guys around here, too," Eric pointed out, and Kitty started laughing.

Bobby looked around the living room, realizing he was all alone. As good a time as any to think about what he really didn't wanna think about. He knew he had to, soon. And even if it wasn't the most pleasant of things he had to figure out, there was a lot depending on it. Like his friendship with John.

'That's what friends are for,' she'd said.

Friends. Were they really friends though?

When he'd first met Cecilia, he'd been taken with her. She was charming and gentle, but tough and fun to be around. She was full of life and surprises, he soon found out, and there was something about her that made him want to swoop her up in his arms and never let her go.

So when he'd finally been able to be her prince, despite Rogue, he'd been happy. Happier than in a long while. And then she said that. 'That's what friends are for, right?'

He wasn't sure he'd been able to mask his surprise when she'd said that, but he hoped she hadn't know something was wrong. He'd seen the way she and John had been around each other, before and after she'd been taken. And even if Bobby could imagine loving Cecilia, holding her at night, making love to her, kissing her gently before they went their separate ways in the morning, hearing her talking to him for hours and hours about her life, about their life. He really could imagine all that with her; he couldn't with Rogue. Maybe that was the important part? What he wanted with the different girls?

He knew he could never touch Rogue, and that made him feel he wasn't meant for her. He wanted kids some day, he wanted to kiss the girl she slept with – hell, he wanted to sleep with the girl he was together with.

He heard someone giggle. No. He heard Cecilia giggle. He turned around to see John touch Cecilia's cheek, leaning into her as she smiled at him. She almost beamed at him and touched his cheek.

"Stop," she giggled as he pinched her nose gently.

They disappeared and Bobby felt his heart wrench in his chest. Cecilia had picked. He'd been so sure she was going to pick him, especially after the first few days.

"Hey there," the tall man said. Bobby looked to the doorway and saw Kitty's brother standing there. He was leaning against the doorway in a very nonchalant way and had his arms crossed over his chest.

"Hey."

"You look troubled."

"Well, probably." He half smiled at Eric and gestured to him to sit if he wanted. Eric nodded and sat down next to Bobby, turning his body to him.

"Now tell me," Eric began. "who's the girl on your mind?"

"Who said it was a girl?" Bobby asked defensively.

"Oh, who's he lucky boy?" Eric wagged his eyebrows, reminding him a lot of John when he did.

"Okay, she's just- it looks like she's chosen not to be with me."

Eric touched his arm and smiled a little teasingly. "Broken-hearted?"

Bobby frowned at him and tried to figure out what the guy was after.

"Sure," he said, letting his lips stay pursed.

"Come on now, Bobby is it?" Eric put his hand on Bobby's leg. "Tell me something, how many times have you been like this over a girl?"

"This time. I never met two girls I liked like this before. I really hoped-" His vice died out and he couldn't even finish the thought. What did he hope for?

"Now, Bobby," Eric was holding his eyes and smiling at him very flirty. "Did you ever think you never thought about girls like that before cos you don't really want them?"

"Hey, whoa, I didn't say that!" Bobby exclaimed as Eric's hand wandered up his leg.

Eric laughed. "Calm down kid," he said, removing his hand. "There's no need to freak out. Look, This girl trouble you're having..." He looked into Bobby's eyes. "It'll sort itself out. Unless one of them is my sister, cos then I'll cut your balls off-" he smiled, playfully. "Don't worry. You're a good-looking kid, any girl would be crazy not to swoon."

"That's the problem. She never swoons, for anyone. Not even the guy who saved her life, and I thought that was a standard?"

"Nah, never is."

"Eric! She's changed her dress!" Rogue called.

"Come on kid, let's go see my baby sister."

Rogue looked down at Bobby and Eric as they entered the hallway. "May I present to you, miss Katherine Pryde."

Kitty came out of their room and swayed down the hall. She started down the stairs with a little help from Rogue – she wasn't very steady on those heals.

"My god, is that my little Kitty cat? You look-"

"Gorgeous."

Kitty looked up and saw Piotr standing in the doorway to the classroom and she blushed deeply. "Thanks."

Eric took her arm from Rogue and smiled. "Thanks for taking care of her," he said, to all of them. "I may be certifiable, but she deserves to be happy. And I can tell that you guys," he looked around the room at the few people who was there. "All of you, make her happy. So thank you."

A couple of mumbled "our pleasures" later, Rogue watched Kitty and Eric enter the car. When Eric was about to get in on the drivers side, Remy came running. The guys hugged, and Rogue saw something in Remy she hadn't seen before.

Relaxation.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **_Hi! Okay, so, I started this story almost a year ago (actually it's a year in the middle of June) and I still have a long way to go on it, but I still have a few already written chapters up me sleave, so I'll be posting two of them today. Thanks for the favorites guys, you have no idea how much that means to me! Also, if you love something in a chapter, feel free to tell me! And yes, in due time I will be going back and fixing the past chapters so that they are easier to read, I promise! :)_

* * *

**8. What you said**

_"Celie, hurry up already, we're gonna be late for school!"_

_She slammed the door to the bathroom._

_"Leave me alone!" she yelled, feeling tired and more than a little annoyed at her sister._

_"Come on, stop sulking, just hurry up already!" her mother yelled up the stairs._

_"Tell them to go without me, I'll catch up!"_

_"Fine, be that way!" her younger sister laughed._

_"You'll be late," she reminded them, starting to fume._

_"See ya soon!" he sisters echoed up the stairs and the door closed. Finally they left her alone. She jumped in the shower and let the cold water wash over her._

_When she came down the stairs she stopped to look at the photos of her and her sisters, touching a gentle finger to each of them._

_"There you are," her father smiled._

_"Hey daddy." She jumped down the rest of the way and kissed his cheek._

_"Don't forget your sister's turning 16 today," he smiled, handing her her bag._

_"Dad! I would never," she laughed, and headed out the door, calling her good bye over her shoulder._

Cecilia woke up, tears streaming down her face. She picked up her phone and looked at the date. And it was just as she feared – her baby sister would be 16. If she was still out there somewhere.

"Are you okay?" Rogue asked in the dark.

"Just a bad dream," Cecilia reassured her.

* * *

Bobby looked gingerly at John as he poured Cecilia a glass of milk, handing her the butter and smiling at her gently. Cecilia, though she noticed and nodded and smile, said please and thank you, seemed off. If it'd been just Bobby around, he'd have asked about it. But John, the dumb ass, didn't even seem to notice.

When Rogue came in, right when Cecilia was about done with breakfast, Bobby smiled at her and tried to be as affectionate as he could be without being obvious about the fact that he'd made his choice. Not saying he didn't want Cecilia and Rogue to know...

"Meet me for lunch?" John asked Cecilia quietly.

"Huh?" she looked up from her glass of milk and made an excusing smile. "Sorry, sure, when?"

"12?"

"Sounds great," she smiled, but the smile didn't seem to reach her eyes. John touched her shoulder and then made his way out of the kitchen.

"Hey people," Kitty said cheerily as she entered. She was all smiles, still happy from her brother's visit. "How's everyone today?"

"Fine," the people mumbled back at her, and she raised both eyebrows and looked at them with disapproval.

"Come on people, it's a beautiful day!"

That's when the first rumbles sounded over the house. Bobby and Cecilia started laughing on either sides of the table.

"So much for your sunny disposition," Bobby said, seeing the rain pour down over the windows.

"Still, it's a wonderful day, and you, Mr cranky pants, are not going to make me think otherwise."

Kitty hummed a cheery tune while Cecilia finished her milk and got up from her chair. She looked over her shoulder quickly, he knew she probably didn't think he saw it, but he did. And something inside him felt happy she looked so miserable when she looked at him and Rogue.

"How's your morning been so far?" Rogue asked him, but he barely nodded.

* * *

Cecilia had been hiding in the bathroom for a solid five minutes with tears streaming down her face. She could still remember her little sister's voice, calling up the stairs at her to hurry up. She could still hear the bickering of them, the laughing as they went out the door and to school; like they'd done so many times before, without her.

It had been fours years and two weeks since her sisters had disappeared. Agnes had been two weeks from turning 12 when they all of a sudden just wasn't around any more. And today, sweet Agnes would have been 16.

The tears falling wasn't because her sisters were dead – she didn't know if they were or not – it was because she hadn't been with them that morning. Like most other mornings Cecilia had been slow from the get go and they'd been running late, later than usual. And in the few minutes that separated them, somehow she had been the one to make it to school in time.

She rocked back and forth, thinking of the picture that had been hanging on the wall. They'd all looked so old, compared to the real pictures of them. They'd grown up, together. Like it was supposed to be. But nothing was like it was supposed to be. Everything was wrong!

* * *

Remy thought the day was passing all to slow. Since his adventures in the world going to school seemed a drab thing to do. He was almost 20, he had his way of making a living – maybe not honest, but it was effective. Now, mostly, he studied people. Others like him, who was a danger to themselves and to others.

Like Rogue.

He'd studied her for a while. She was smart, shy and forward when she knew what she wanted. Like right now, when she was talking to Bobby Drake. She was flirty, but a little shy too. She wanted to touch him, and really feel him against her skin not just feel her glove touch his shirt.

There was something there, and she was in pain.

He knew she was dangerous, the mere touch of her had had Logan, the Wolverine, in a coma for a few days. But he'd been the same, the touch of his skin could hurt an amazing amount.

"Rogue," he said, and her head snapped in his direction.

"Hey, Remy," she smiled. She petted Bobby on the cheek with her glove and then got up and sat down with him instead. "What's up?"

He was taken by surprise, he'd just wanted to ask her something. "Nothing much, I was just thinking," he started. He looked over at Bobby, who was pretending not to take an interest in their conversation. Remy half smiled and looked back at Rogue. "How can you and Bobby be close? Mutant to mutant," he sad, his voice a strange shade of sad.

"We're not. I don't wanna hurt him."

"But you're still together?" he asked hesitantly.

"I think so, I mean, we haven't said out loud that we're a couple or anything-"

"Hey Drake?"

Bobby looked at Remy wt surprise. "What?"

"Are you and this lovely girl an item or not?" He almost laughed out loud at Bobby and the look on his face.

"Yeah," he finally stammered. Remy smiled.

"Good. Now," he turned back to Rogue. "How do you plan on being close to him?"

"I don't. Like I said, I'm not going to put him in danger like that."

Remy nodded, and couldn't really see a future for the two. But he was still happy Rogue was open enough to find love, after her first boyfriend ended up in the hospital.

* * *

"Hey," John smiled, sitting down next to her. His hand touched her arm and she looked up, still feeling like she was in some kind of nightmare. "You feeling any better now?"

She shook her head and looked him in the eye. "That dream was pretty bad John, and I dunno why I can't shake it."

"You will, you'll forget all about it soon enough." She hadn't told him the dream, just that she'd had a nightmare.

"Yeah, but what if I don't want to forget it?" she spat, got up from her seat and ran out.

* * *

He knocked on her door, still not sure he was going to say. "Cecilia... Open up."

"No. Just go away, John."

"I'm not going anywhere," he said stubbornly.

"I'm not going to open up," she muttered. He could hear her sobbing.

He put his hand against the door, and then sat down right outside. "What it is, Cecilia? Why are you crying...?"

"I'm not." But she was still sobbing.

"I'm not buying it. I said I wasn't going anywhere, and I mean it."

Then he just sat there, leaned against the wall outside her door and waited. He heard her sob beyond control, how she cried out sometimes and how she either hit or kicked something. He'd been there the entire time, soothing her from the outside as best he could. He didn't really know what to do though. And then, an hour later, he finally heard something at the door. He got up and prepared for the worst, so that when he saw her, he was already preparing for her eyes to be red around the edges and her face puffy.

"My god," he said, pushing the door open. She took a step back, shying away from him.

"Please, don't look at me John."

He stopped her from shying away further. "Why not?" He touched her cheek, and that was the moment that he, John Allerdyce, realized that he might be falling in love.

* * *

"Colossus," Kitty smiled.

"Hey Kitty," he said, his warm voice rumbly and soft. "I was looking for you-"

"I heard. Why were you looking?" She sat down next to him on the floor, looking over the puzzle he was working on.

"I just wanted to... you know, talk."

She smiled. "Really? About what?"

He shrugged. "Everything?" He put a piece of the puzzle down and smiled at her.

"Where do you wanna start?" she said, looking down at the piece in her hand. She placed it in a hole and looked pleased.

"What's your favourite colour?"

She smiled. "The deep warm, rich colour of amber." He nodded. "What about you?"

"Lemon yellow," he admitted with a half shrug.

* * *

"I said please, John." She'd finally stopped crying, but now she was on the verge of something else. Anger. She was so mad at herself.

"No. I'm not leaving you, can't you see that?"

She could see that. She just wished she could tell him why she didn't want him there. "I just don't want you to see me like this."

"You're upset, and I want to be there for you. So let me."

She wanted to tell him to back off and leave her alone. She wanted to scream at him that he couldn't fix it, no matte how hard he tried, no matter how long he was there for her. She would always be beyond repair. She'd lost the only people that mattered to her.

"No, just- go away." She tried to push at him, to get him out the door. Instead she tripped him and he landed in her bed.

He smiled a little. "You know, if that was all just some clever way of getting me into bed, you could have just asked."

She glared at him. "So not the time John."

"Come on, it was a little funny," he said, getting up. "Even if it was just a little." But she didn't crack as much as a smile.

"I'm- Tired."

"I understand that. But listen, I know you probably don't want to think about it right now, but I waited out there for over an hour – so, you at least owe me to listen. Look, I would, uhm," he cleared his throat. "I wanna take you on a date, Celie."

She glared at him. "Now? You ask me out, now?"

"Well, yeah-"

"Look, I like you, but I need you to step back, and just... Just back off right now." She pushed him out the door and regretted even letting him in. She heard him sigh on the other side.

"You know where to find me, if you wanna talk, or whatever."

And then he left her alone.

She wanted to call him back and tell him all about her sisters, about all the fun they used to have and cry on his shoulder, even if he'd suck at comforting her. He'd crack another lame joke and then hug her close, even if he was out of his element he'd try.

"I'm sorry," she whispered after him, leaning her head against the door and yet again, she started to cry. In that moment, she sort of wished Bobby would have been the one on the other side of her door. But he'd been acting strange all day, barely looking at her, not talking to her, ignoring her for the most part. And he was a little to obvious about him and Rogue.

She threw herself on her bed and remembered John's eyes. He way he smelled, in and out of her mind. Soon, with John right at the tip of her mind, she managed to fall asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**9. I still want you**

"Please, have a seat," the professor said and smiled at her and Rogue.

"Thanks," they mumbled and sat down in a chair each.

"I thought it wasn't more than right to tell you what happened after you passed out that night on Liberty island, what with the group of people on Ellis Island and all..." He looked from Cecilia to Rogue while he spoke.

There was a knock at the door and he looked at it briefly.

"Perfect timing, Scott," he said, and the very good-looking teacher stepped through the door. Rogue drew a breath, thinking Cecilia wouldn't notice, even though she did. She smiled at him, knowing he'd been the one to save her when she needed saving.

It had deffinetly warmed her up to him and the taste of rhubarb he left in her mouth. She'd grown to like what he imprinted on her, because there was more than the obvious and sour rhubarb. The sweet scent of vanilla and the fire that seemed to burn hot and hard, the fire that when contained and aimed, could be lethal. It was what made Scott Cyclops, that fire.

"I think it's best you take a seat too," the professor said. Scott nodded and sat down next to Cecilia. He smiled softly, quickly, and then focused on the professor.

"That night on Liberty Island, both of you were in grave danger, captives in your own bodies in many ways."

Cecilia remembered the steel against her wrists and, involuntarily, puts her hand on one of her wrists, wringing her hand around her wrist. She looks at the professor, very aware of the fact that Scott is looking at her moving hands.

"But both of you did extremely well – you have no training, so of course your strain was tremendous, but you fought back when you saw a chance." He looked at Cecilia. "Exhausting your powers was very unfortunate, since it set you back in so many was. But I am very proud of what you did, in ways of protecting your friend, and the innocent people." He changed his gaze to Rogue. "You had no choice, and I am glad that you weren't alone. I wish I could tell you there is some way to control your powers, Rogue, but I suppose you know by now that there really isn't." She nodded, looking kinda sad.

"Cecilia, when you told me to hold on to you, that you were going to faint, I had no idea what your true power was. I'd heard you were good with feeling things, knowing little something's about people, even seeing partial futures. But I had no idea you could stun someone like that."

"Numb," she whispered. "I numb them, make them feel nothing. I can do it—to just about anything, anyone. One sense, or all of them."

"What was it you did to me?" Rogue asked, her voice low.

"I shut you down. All of what made you into you, I turned that off. Even your powers, which made Magneto's powers useless since you only had access to them through your own." She looked up from Rogue, who looked scared, to Scott, who looked proud, to the professor, who was smiling.

"You mastered something that should have taken you years to perfect, Cecilia. I think it's time you think about picking your mutant name, if you want one."

"I'll think about it," she said and nodded.

"Now, on to why I really called you here," the professor sad. "Scott was there, so I think I'll let him tell his version."

And then, carefully, unravelled the story of what had really happened. He told them about leaving the school and finding them, the fight with Magneto's people and getting trapped, him without his glasses, facing Jean. Cecilia gasped at the story, even if she'd been there, this was new. Jean has risked herself, trusting her unstable powers to hold back the full force of Scott's and she'd come out on the other side the better for it – or so it seemed.

When they had gotten loose, he and Logan had gone their different ways to find the girls quicker.

"I think I found you a little too late, since they had dragged Rogue off already." He looked from one girl to the other and then took a deep breath. "But at least I found you before they had time to use you to what they had intended."

"What was that, anyway?" Rogue asked.

Cecilia shivered, and looked at the professor. She was thinking it at him, hoping he would save her from telling Rogue what Magneto's plan had been.

"Well, the reason as to why I called you here wasn't just to tell you what happened that night – it was to tell you what happened to Magneto afterwards." Cecilia let out a breath of relief. "Right now, Magneto is in prison. And not just any prison, it's made of plastic so he won't be able to get out. Now, I'm only telling you because I want you two to feel safe, always."

"Thank you, professor," Cecilia smiled, a real genuine smile.

"You're welcome, now, I think you should go back to you every days."

The girls nodded and got up. "Thank you," they said and closed the door behind them.

"Cecilia, what really happened there?"

Cecilia shook her head. "Believe me Rogue, you're better off not knowing."

* * *

Kitty was sitting on the floor where Piotr had left the puzzle and was pretty focused on the last few pieces. It should have been easier, but it seemed impossible since all the pieces were blue and purple

"Hey! Wow, you got a lot done," he said, sitting down beside her.

"Yeah. I did. Just the hard parts left."

He took one of the pieces and fitted it, then the rest followed easy for him.

"How did you do that?" she marvelled.

"It was easy. See, this piece goes between those and the tone there-" He was so close to her she could feel the heat come off of him. And he just stared at her.

"What?" she asked, wondering if something was wrong.

"Nothing. I just-" he started, smiling at her suddenly. "You are beautiful, do you know that Kitty? Even without the dress and all the make-up, you look like a princess."

Kitty looked at him, stunned into silence at his tender words.

"I would be honoured, if you, someday, would go out with me. Not dinner here, but out there, in the real world."

"I'd love to," she blurted out, a little to quick. "I mean, that'd be nice."

They smiled at each other and then packed the puzzle, finally having fit another piece of their own.

* * *

"Come on Celie, would you hurry up already? This photo isn't gonna take itself you know," her younger sister laughed. Her long curly hair reached way down her back, her face the same but so much older. Cecilia smiled on the inside, watching her sisters primp each other, fluffing hair and wiping away the extra eyeshadow.

"Hold on, I'm coming, I'm coming," she said, throwing the cardigan on the chair on her way over to her family. Her sisters were smiling and laughing. "Are you sure this dress looks good?"

"You look adorable," her mother said and put the camera to her face. "Now smile, that means you too Celie, crack a smile-"

The flash went off and blinded her. "Keep your eyes on us," she heard her sisters say, but she couldn't hold on. They were slipping away, she was losing them.

"NO!" Cecilia sat up straight in her bed, dripping of sweat. Her breath came quick and her eyes were hurting, they were so wide. She looked at the time. 5 am.

"Cecilia?" Rogue asked, groggy and tired.

"No, you're dreaming," she said.

"Oh, okay."

And then Rogue slept again, Kitty hadn't even woken up. Only thing was, Cecilia couldn't stay in ehr be or anoher moment. She needed air, to move, to feel. She got up from her bed and started out the door, closing it gently behind her. She stood against the door, breathing softly for a while, thinking were to go.

"John," she whispered.

* * *

He woke up from the soft knock on the door. He looked over at Bobby, who'd fallen asleep with his light on and the book on his pillow. He shook his head and got up from the bed.

He was pretty surprised to see Cecilia on the other side.

"Can I talk to you?" she asked softly, her arms wrapepd around her chest and her eyes blodshot.

He nodded and stepped out from the room. "Yeah, of course." They started walking down the hall in silence. "What's wrong, Celie?"

She flinched and looked at him with those scared eyes. "I just needed company," she said, and he knew she was lying to him.

He pulled out a chai and let her sit down in the living room, sitting down opposite her. "I know you're lying to me," he said sharply. The look in Ceclia's eyes turned a little darker than it had been.

"Don't pressure me John."

"Why not?"

"Look, I was—not nice to you yesterday, I know. But you just wouldn't listen-"

He looked at her, one eye raised. "I listened, I listened for hours as you cried and shut me out." He wanted an apology, and he was pretty sure she did too. Too bad, he thought. I'm not giving in, princess.

"I know you did, but you still wouldn't listen," she said, a little sharper.

"Okay, so what was I supposed to do? Actually go away and let you be alone in there, know that you were hrting like hell and just leave you the fuck alone? Would that have been better, huh? Tell me Celie, do you really think it would have been any better if i just elft you alone?"

She glared at him, seemingly starting to boil. "No," she spat. "But you could have backed off when I asked you too!"

"You know you didn't want me too, and you might just admit it!"

"Why?" she yelled at him, getting up from her chair so it turned over.

He stood up to look at her and their eyes locked as they continued to yell at each other. John was so mad he was almost jumping, the same look in her eyes as in his. They were so close, and emotions were flying all over the place, and one moment they were yelling at each other and saying they just about hated the other.

"Don't you ever talk to me again, you idiot!" Cecilia yelled, almost in his face.

"Fine by me!" he shouted back.

Then, as if by a stroke of magic, the look in her eyes changed and he felt his heart bubble over with heat and his lips found hers in a kiss filled with anger and passion. She closed her arms around his neck, roughly pulling him to her, and he pushed her back against the wall. His hands roamed down her sides, to the edge of her nightgown. She moaned against his lips, her hands tugging on his hair and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He gripped her butt and didn't want to take his lips from hers.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, the kiss breaking for only a moment.

"Me too," he said, out of breath before he went back to kissing her.

* * *

Rogue looked at him as she ate her breakfast. He was wearing tight black jeans and a fitted t-shirt that clung to his chest, the white t-shirt having a pattern filled with color and life. He looked amazing in the tight sleeves and the snug jeans and for a moment, rogue simply forget herself as she stare at Remy.

"Bonjour mon chere, ca va?" His voice was like a song and his french made her want to impress him, but she didn't know how to.

She smiled at him and nodded. "Ca va bien, Remy, merci. Et toi?"

"C'est tres bien, petite, tres bein. Merci beaucoup," he smiled as he sat down beside her. "Ton nome, petite, c'est ma couleur préféré."

"Non?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"Oui," he smiled again, touching her hair gently. "Parlez vous francais?"

"Comsi comsa," she said. "But not well."

"You did just fine, I didn't think people here spoke french. The only other person I've met was Kitty's brother."

"He's a real charmer, isn't her?"

"Yes, he is. And he uses the french to be even more charming, which makes all the girls go weak in the knees," he said, his Cajun accent thick and lovely to listen to.

She looked him in the eyes, his deep dark eyes. She almost forgot about Bobby, her boyfriend, as she did. She felt like she was sinking into his eyes and his heat. He reached out, and before she knew it, she felt a zap run through her and hen he touched her. His hand rested on her arm, the heat from his hand making her heart pound.

"Just remember, chere, not everyone is off limits to you and you won't hurt everyone. Even if you seem to think so." He removed his hand, before the skin even started crawling on him. She looked at him and she'd never been so stunned before.

* * *

She leaned against him, her head against his shoulder and their hands entangled just like their legs were. They were still fully dressed and were having the moment Cecilia had thought about since she realized she wanted a part of John. She still wasn't sure which part it was she was after, but the sweet and tender part of him that she was cuddling with now was a very nice part of him that she kinda wished she'd see more of.

He kissed her again, softly and barely, his hands holding onto hers a lot harder. She pressed her body against hs and their kisses still seemed filled with the powerful physical attraction they had discovered in the living room hours earlier.

"Hey, John?" Bobby started and then he just stopped in his steps as she saw Cecilia closely entangled with John. As comfortable as John still was, Cecilia suddenly felt the need to get up and run away. She looked at the expression on Bobby's face, ranging from anger to hurt to relief and then something came over him.

"I gotta go," Cecilia mumbled, caressing John's cheek quickly and then got up.

* * *

She was blushing deeply when she pushed past him and he looked after her like he'd just walked in on them in the middle of 'It'. And honestly, it felt like he had too. He looked at John, who was smiling a little, something soft on Johns face that Bobby hadn't seen before.

"What?" John asked him, staring at him a little confused.

"Uh – what?"

"You were about to ask me something, I think." John got up from his bed and stood up in front of him.

"Oh right yeah, but I think I just got the answer to why you weren't in your bed this morning..."

"What? Hey, hey, no, not- that, come on Bobby. Where would we do that?" he asked, like he was really asking.

"I have no idea what you two- Honestly I didn't realize there was anything between the two of you, John."

"We didn't either, until this morning when we were about to rp each other's throats out."

"Oh," he said, and John turned to walk out the door.

When he was left alone, there was something crushing down on him like a ton of water. He sat down on his bed and took deep breaths. She was going out with John. John was going out with her... Cecilia was with him now. He was wth Cecilia now. John and Ceclia were an item.

But why was it even bothering him? He and Rogue was supposed to be an item, they'd told remy they were – as well as every one else who was in the room at that time. He was sure it had spread. But had Cecilia heard? Was that why she'd turned to John? Or had there been something more there, that bobby hadn't know about?

Bobby fell back on his bed and stared at the ceiling.

"Well, this sucks," he mumbled and closed his eyes.


End file.
